Summary
As global wine consumption continues its multi-year decline, winery tourism is emerging as a strategic priority for producers, according to a July 3 report from Chile's El Mercurio.
Commentary
Global wine consumption has declined for several years, pressuring Chilean exports. However, revenue from winery tourism is growing counter to this trend. The shift by overseas small and medium-sized wineries toward tourist experiences and direct sales is not an isolated phenomenon – New Zealand's Marlborough and Central Otago regions have long made wine-tasting tours a core business model.
The difference, according to the report, is that Chile has expanded the number of open wineries from 94 to 219 in a decade, systematically promoting tourism projects and demonstrating the potential for scale. For New Zealand's smaller wineries, this underscores the need to deepen the direct conversion of visitor experience into sales. It also suggests leveraging the RCEP framework to attract Asia-Pacific tourist flows, turning winery tourism into a second growth engine beyond exports.
Chile's $45 billion in sales proves that when overall consumption contracts, high-end direct-to-consumer experiences can still generate incremental growth.
Keywords: Chile, winery tourism, wine, sales, vineyard, growth, small and medium wineries, tourism project
Source: Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China
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